Democrats: Budget to get fair review

Article published Jan 20, 2010 Democrats: Budget to get fair review By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau MONTPELIER – Democratic leaders in the Vermont Legislature didn't exactly welcome Republican Gov. James Douglas' final budget proposal with open arms, but they also refused to rule out any of the suggested cuts. Speaking to reporters moments after Douglas ended his speech, House Speaker Shap Smith and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin said none of the budget cuts outlined Tuesday were dead on arrival – a sharp contrast to legislative reactions in prior years. "We all agree on the $150 million number," said Shumlin, referring to the gap in Vermont's 2011 budget. "So, we have to work with this administration to come up with some ideas. We need to get to a budget that works." Democrats control both the House and Senate and, in years past, party leaders have been vocal about parts of the governor's proposed budget that they don't like. But after last year's legislative session ended in animosity – Douglas vetoed the budget and then lawmakers overrode that veto – the two branches of state government are now vowing to try to work together. Smith, a Morristown Democrat, said he didn't envy Douglas' situation as a four-term governor in his last year facing a deep fiscal crisis, noting his speech was the "last budget address that any governor would want to give." He said the House Appropriations Committee would begin taking testimony on certain proposals that afternoon, all with an eye to concluding the 2010 legislative session in 16 weeks. "We're ready to go," Smith said. "We know there are some difficult choices ahead." While Democratic leaders were reluctant to criticize Douglas' budget proposal, advocates in a host of areas facing possible spending cuts didn't hold back. Peter Sterling, the executive director of the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security, said Douglas' proposed increases in premium costs and deductibles for Catamount Health, the state's health care plan for the uninsured, is "death by a thousand cuts." He said the number one reason people don't sign onto Catamount is that they can't afford it – and this proposal will only make that problem worse, resulting in more Vermonters "throwing the dice" by going without health insurance. "You are essentially killing the program without eliminating it," Sterling said. Advocates also decried Douglas' proposed cuts and consolidation of various affordable housing organizations. John Shullenberger, a lobbyist for the Vermont Housing and Conservation Coalition, said many of these groups are vastly different entities with different goals, including some that receive no state funding. Erhard Mahnke, the coordinator of the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, said investing money into building or renovating homes is a "job creating machine" because it generates new work in the construction field and then "ripples all across the economy." "This is a Vermont-generated program that fits the needs of Vermont," he said of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, adding that the organization has built nearly 10,000 housing units over the last 20 years. In the hours after Douglas' speech, advocates were scrambling to determine what the proposed cuts could mean to their organizations and programs. Ken Libertoff, the executive director of the Vermont Association for Mental Health, said he and others may need several days to determine the true cost of the planned reductions. His own estimates on Tuesday were that Douglas' proposed budget cuts mental health funding by about 5 percent, an amount that he said "will add stress to the community mental health system, but will not dismantle it." "Vermont's mental health system is dangerously close to gridlock now, the unfortunate result of inaction to close the Vermont State Hospital," Libertoff said. "The system has already taken some hits with recent budget reductions. These cuts will further erode services." Not everyone was critical of the proposed budget. House Republicans, in a statement released after the speech, expressed strong support for the proposal, calling it a "responsible way to address the fiscal crisis we face." "Our state is at a crossroads right now," said Minority Leader Patti Komline, R-Dorset. "Our families and businesses are struggling to meet their financial obligations, and our state must confront a deficit of $150 million in [fiscal year] 2011 and hundreds of millions in 2012 and 2013." Still, some Democrats did not hold back their frustration with the proposed budget. Sen. Doug Racine, D-Chittenden, the chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, said "any one of these cuts might be OK, but the accumulated affect will hurt the most vulnerable Vermonters." Racine, who is running for governor this year, proposed using part of the state's $60 million rainy day funds to preserve some services. "This is taxpayer money that could be used to pay for much-needed services and help out those Vermonters who have lost their jobs," he said. Shumlin, the Windham County Democrat, is also a candidate for governor this year. He said that any budget cuts that legislative leadership agrees to will need to adhere to three principles: Not leaving behind the most vulnerable Vermonters, retaining the state's local controls over education, and ensuring that "Montpelier's problems aren't passed onto local communities in the form of a property tax increase."         daniel.barlow@timesargus.com.